GREATEST HITS OF 2012 no.3: Publicly calling out TRC over their video to ‘Temptation’

There has only been one instance in the near-five year history of Thrash Hits that we’ve hesitated before clicking the ‘Publish’ button out of fear for our physical safety. And that was earlier this year, when Hugh Platt wrote a ‘Dear John…’ letter to TRC, explaining why he wouldn’t be writing about them anymore after witnessing their then-latest promo video for ‘Temptation’. Mainly because he was scared one of TRC would uppercut his head clean off his shoulders backstage at Download Festival or something like that.

But of course, if we didn’t click publish, we’d be the same as every other soulless, spineless, dickless, coward blog and/or magazine out there. We didn’t start this website to tow the line and regurgitate the same-old same-old apologetic bollocks because a band would bring in site hits, or because it was easier for us to “play the game” than it was for us to call it as we saw it. There’s a whole internet of websites out there doing that, if that’s what you’re after. We’re still glad we clicked that ‘Publish’ button, not least because we’ve lost track of the number of people who’ve come up to us at shows and gigs and told us it was their favourite thing we’ve ever published.

It is to our eternal shame that we can’t currently find the screengrabs we made at the time of the truly epic Facebook post that this article caused (although some, like this one from TRC’s own page, still remain). Unfortunately, since this post was initially published, several key players in this comic farce have deleted their input into the thread, most notably Alex Sim-Wise, former Front-favoured glamour model and girlfriend to TRC vocalist Anthony Carroll. We particularly liked the bit where she repeatedly told us to fuck off, then said she couldn’t wait till the “sad GCSE Media Project of a website [we] run closes down”. Sorry, Alex, we’re still here. Maybe we could spin this site out to a full-blown bit of A-Level coursework? Anyway, here’s the original piece:

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In the spirit of the “Dear John letter” concept, one of our writers just had to get something off his chest (following several minutes of dumbfoundedness) after watching the mesmeric new video from TRC. Warning: This post contains a TRC video.

“Dear TRC,

I’m terribly sorry that I’ve had to do this through a letter. I couldn’t bear to make a scene in public. Also, I’m a physical coward and I think you might actually punch me in my wimpy, middle-class liberal face. I know we could never describe our “relationship” as being that a close one, but this afternoon I saw your promo video for ‘Temptation’, I thought it best we make a clean break of it before it develops any further.

I’m still unsure of myself as I write about this. In many ways, critiquing all that is awful about your new video would almost be the hardcore equivalent of writing a blog in 2012 based around the concept that “Limp Bizkit are shit! LOL!”, insofar that the thinking behind it is so played out as to be almost irrelevant. It seems ironically lazy of me to pass off the idea that your song sounds suspiciously similar to Bring Me The Horizon’s ‘Chelsea Smile’ (albeit given a Pwopah Nawty!!!!11!1 Dyer-Dyer-style spin) as one of my own, given how I pinched that opinion off Twitter. And while at first I was going to say “at least it’s better than that video for that other song where an ex-member of your band called anyone who dislikes your band a faggot“, because ‘Temptation’ just seems to have replaced that casual throwaway homophobia of that little outing with the uncomfortable pub-talk-level misogyny I usually only have to deal with that one time a year when my shitting-mad great-uncle makes his annual Christmas visit. I guess we can take the fact that it’s not as bad as Emmure’s ‘Drug Dealer Friend’ as a positive spin on things, but when “not as shit as Emmure” is one of your points of reference, well….exactly.

So in that respect. I’m glad this is done and we’re going in our separate directions for good. I hope that one day you all find those special someones with whom you’re able to realise your dream of “The only thing / I’ve ever wanted / is to feel love / for someone worth it”. Anyway, I’m looking ahead and not looking back. Please don’t let it get you all upset inside – we’re just not compatible. “It’s not you; it’s me”, etc. Or perhaps it’s the other way around.

Regardless, I promise you’ll never have to hear from me again after this. I can’t speak for any of my colleagues here at Thrash Hits, but I can promise you that much from me.

—-Of all the things that came out of this debacle, these were the two things that made us laugh the most. Kudos out to the guys that made them (was it you, Tom S and Sean E? Well done if so).

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TRC are probably playing some shows or in a studio somewhere or doing something or other but we can’t be bothered to do anything other than point you in the direction of their official Facebook page if you’re still into that sort of thing.